Why should I work with Southern Surrogacy?
You participate in the choice of Intended Parents! Instead of simply being assigned to someone you will be presented with one or more couples or individuals who meet your criteria. Additionally, you will meet in person, usually a lunch or dinner meeting, prior to medical screening with the Intended Parents’ reproductive endocrinologist. Our primary focus is to match Intended Parents and Surrogates who reside in the same region so that you may actively participate together in the pregnancy. The families will typically be within 4-5 hours driving time – or less – as will the fertility center. Local monitoring closer to your home is also a possibility so that the travel (if any) will be limited.
Southern Surrogacy is owned and run by 4 attorneys and we have 1 case manager. You will not be dealing with multiple case workers. We give all of our Gestational Surrogates personal attention.
Will I be genetically related to the child?
No. Our Program handles only gestational surrogacy. In a gestational surrogacy arrangement, the embryos being transferred into your uterus will be created through in vitro fertilization. Typically the embryos are composed of the Intended Mother’s eggs, fertilized with the Intended Father’s sperm (although, at times, donor egg and/or donor sperm may be used). As a result, you will not be genetically related to the child.
What type of contact will I have with the Intended Parents?
This truly varies from case to case in our surrogate program. However, as part of the matching process, we discuss the individual contact preferences with both you and the Intended Parents. When matching, we want to make sure that the Intended Parents and the Surrogate have similar expectations regarding the Intended Parents’ involvement during the pregnancy, as well as the amount and type of postpartum contact (if any) that each desires. This will also be discussed at length in the joint meeting with the mental health professional who conducts your psychological evaluation. From our experience, the desired level of contact can change throughout the process as your relationship with your Intended Parents develops.
What financial assurances do you provide?
There will be a legal agreement between you and the Intended Parents and you will have your own independent attorney to assist you in understanding and negotiating the agreement. The Intended Parents are required to pre-fund the escrow account from which your surrogacy benefits will be paid prior to the legal agreement being signed.
